We had the fourth meeting of our Willpower Instinct Meditation Book Group at Yoga Bliss. We came together for gentle yoga practice, meditation and discussion of the third, fourth and fifth chapters in the Willpower Instinct: I Will, I Won’t, I Want: What Willpower Is, and Why It Matters. In these chapters Kelly describes how our brains mistake the promise of reward for happiness. We chase satisfaction from things and find they are empty – even harmful. She says that if we are to have self-control we need to need to identify the false promises of reward and aim ourselves toward that which has true value.
This reminds me of a beautiful chant taken from the Upanishads:
Asato Ma Sat Gamaya (Lead Us from the Unreal to Real)
Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya (Lead us from Darkness to Light)
Mrityor Ma Amritam Gamaya (Lead us from Death to Immortality)
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti. (Aum, Let there be Peace, Peace, Peace)
Affirmation, chanting and prayer are beautiful and helpful ways to affirm our intention. In yoga we aim to use our practice to experience ourselves directly, to build the capacity to see our selves more clearly and finally to realize ourselves as the very consciousness that is aware.
To that end we shared a Yoga Nidra meditation practice. Yoga Nidra is a guided relaxation that has a profound effect on the body, mind and emotions. During the practice, you lie down in a comfortable position and remain awake and relaxed and at the same time you connect with your deepest intentions and inner resources. Dr. Richard Miller, Director of the Integrative Restoration Institute, is studying the healing effects of Yoga Nidra among active-duty soldiers, veterans, people experiencing sleep disorders, PTSD, chemical dependency, chronic pain, and related disorders. In Kathleen Griffin’s Yoga Journal article, Reflections of Peace, Dr. Miller offers these helpful steps in exploring this profound state of healing relaxation:
“Connect to your heartfelt desire: bring to mind your heart’s deepest desire – something that you want more than anything else in life. Perhaps it is a desire for health, wellbeing, or awakening. Feel this heartfelt desire with your entire body while imagining and expe- riencing it in this moment as if it were true.
Set an intention: reflect on your intention for your practice . . . It might be to relax and rest, or to inquire into a particular sensation, emotion, or belief. Whatever your intention, welcome and affirm it with your entire body and mind.
Find your Inner Resource: bring attention to your Inner Resource, a safe haven within your body where you experience feelings of security, wellbeing, and calm. You may imagine a place, person, or experience that helps you feel secure and at ease and that helps you feel within your body the sense of wellbeing. Re-experience your Inner Resource at any time during your practice or in daily life when you feel overwhelmed by an emotion, thought, or life circumstance and wish to feel secure and at ease.
Scan your body: gradually move your awareness systematically through [every part of] your body. . . . Sense your entire body as a field of radiant sensation.
Become aware of your breath: sense the body breathing by itself. Observe the natural flow of air in the nostrils, throat, and rib cage as well as the rise and fall of the abdomen with each breath. Feel each breath as flowing energy coursing through out your entire body.
Welcome your feelings: without judging or trying to change anything, welcome the sensations (such as heaviness, tension, or warmth) and emotions (such as sadness, anger, or worry) that are present in your body and mind. Also notice opposite sensations and emotions: If you feel worry, call up feelings of serenity; if you feel tense, experience ease. Sense each feeling and its opposite within your body.
Witness your thoughts: Notice and welcome the thoughts, memories, and images that are present in your mind. Observe your thoughts without judging them or trying to change them. As you come upon beliefs that you hold about yourself, also bring to mind and experience their opposites, welcoming your experience just as it is.
Experience joy: welcome sensations of joy, wellbeing, or bliss emanating from your heart or belly and spreading throughout your body and into the space around you. . .
Observe your self , be aware of your sense of “I-ness,” or personality: notice this sense of identity when you say “I’m hungry,” “I’m angry,” or “I’m happy.” Then, experience yourself as an observing witness or Awareness that is cognizant of these feelings. Set aside thinking and dissolve into Awareness, awake and conscious of the self.
Reflect on your practice: as you complete your practice, reflect on the journey you’ve just taken. Affirm how the feeling of pure being, or pure Awareness, is always present as a deep, unchanging peace that underlies every changing circumstance. Imagine integrating that feeling into your everyday life, in both pleasant and difficult moments, and always reconnecting to that sense of equanimity.”
This is an actual exploration of our “yoga” anatomy – in which we shine the light of awareness on our dimensions of being: bodies, hearts and minds. Being willing to calmly presence with whatever arises without judgment we begin to awaken our Buddhi, that capacity of mind that can help us choose wisely – to identify false rewards and aim ourselves toward meaning. Physical sensation and breath awareness are powerful tools – alerting us to the pull of what Kelly calls the promise of reward. The awakening of Buddhi through mindfulness gives us the opportunity to feel, see, hear and know ourselves more clearly.
We notice how we are meeting ourselves. We become present long enough to make truly compassionate, healing and nourishing choices. We pause long enough to experience equanimity, a sense of spaciousness and calm.
Stillness and meditation provide us with the time, the space the capacity to realize ourselves as pure awareness. Now, right now you can sense yourself as pure awareness – a spacious awareness in which you observe everything arising . . . subsiding – even the thoughts of “I” attaching to experience can dissolve into this vast space of pure awareness.
Kelly describes these amazing brain states in her twenty minute presentation, What Science Can Teach Us About Meditation.
She begins her talk by saying: “We are here to end suffering.” She ends her talk by stating: “If ending suffering is not more important than anything, we will not end suffering.” I believe this is a true promise of reward.
Next week’s homework is outlined at:
The Willpower Meditation Book Group Meeting 4 Homework
For extra credit you can watch Kelly’s talk and read the above referenced article about Yoga Nidra, Reflections of Peace.
Good luck with your challenges this week! May we all be blessed with true rewards.